Advice on ANR headsets for passengers

Shaun Dawson said:
I usually lurk, but this is something I feel like I actually know about, so I’ll weigh in here.

I have experience with Lightspeed, David Clark, Bose A20, and Bose QC 35 using the NFlight Nomad mic, along with a litany of passive headsets. Moreover, I fly in a wide range of GA planes, including an RV-7, a Great Lakes biplane, Yak-52, Cirrus, and Citation Mustang, as well as towing gliders.

David Clark are great passive headsets, but my experience with their ANR has been pathetic. I love my DC ANR headset, and I have it in a helmet and use it in the Yak and the Biplane, and it works well in those challenging environments, but it's essentially passive.

My $0.02,

Shaun
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Thanks, this is the type of info people need.

But what era DCs is your experience? I know when ANR first came out, the DCs were not well rated, but I have heard that the current ones are very good.

I have used DC passive headsets for many years. And they work well for me.

I have not made the switch to ANR for GA flying, but use it a LOT when riding in airliners. I started with the original Bose Quiet Comfort, then to the QC2, QC15, QC35 and now 700.
 
If you have an unlimited aviation budget get a Bose. If your funds have limits as do mine. Us the conversion kit in a quality headset. I have Dave Clark 13.2’s I bought used and the conversion kits installed in two of them. They are fantastic.
 
Sounds like the Stratux of ANR headsets …..
 
Pinecone said:
But what era DCs is your experience? I know when ANR first came out, the DCs were not well rated, but I have heard that the current ones are very good.

I have used DC passive headsets for many years. And they work well for me.
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Excellent point. I do not have any experiences with DC ANR headsets newer than about 10 years old.
 
Remember - find a shop that has the Zulu, A 20, and DC ANR and try them all on. Keep on for a few minutes. First priority is comfort - and they do fit differently
 
I am a bit 'headset intolerant'. Although I am new to Av headsets I have used them in auto racing and high power rifle competition for many years. I bought a pair of DC One-X's and don't really notice them while flying. I do not have the headache or temple discomfort of other muffs worn for prolonged periods of time. I'll qualify that statement by saying I am still working on a PPL (22hrs) and have a max single flight time of 2.1hr. However, compared to my go to shooting muffs that are worn 6hrs or more per shooting match, the One-X's are equal in ergonomics, comfort and ANR. I have gel ear pads in my shooting muffs and figured I would want them in my One-X's but as of now I see no need. The one odd issue I have is, with the ANR turned on, the stall warning horn in the 172N is extremely faint; it is much more audible when the ANR is silenced. Probably related to the high frequency hearing loss I have...just maybe:rolleyes:.
 
With 600 horses roaring outside I felt that for passenger comfort every seat needed ANR. They are all Zulu 2s or 3s. I use a PFX. Like others have said take her out and let her try different models then choose.
 
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I've never understood why aircraft owners were willing to cheap out on headsets for their passengers. As stated above, a headset can make or break someone's flying experience. I've tried them all and have found my favorite to be the DC One-X and I now have multiple pair.
 
None of my non-pilot pax care about the pilot stuff, and if even plugged into the terminals ask that they be iso'd out. A simple "how long is the flight" when we get on is all they're really interested in. Airpods, or some other off the shelf consumer grabe ANR headphone seems to work fine

I do have a second Bose A20, which I'm happy about, and my girlfriend will usually wear that, isolated out, with the airpods in underneath
 
Tantalum said:
None of my non-pilot pax care about the pilot stuff, and if even plugged into the terminals ask that they be iso'd out. A simple "how long is the flight" when we get on is all they're really interested
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I keep the "Time at destination" field active and displayed on the GPS/MFD. I just need to point it out to them when the trip starts.
 
kaiser said:
It's a bit more, but my pax headsets are Bose QC25 + N Flight Mic kit ($150+$250 respectively). This is nice because I can steal the Bose for commercial flights.
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EdFred said:
Yup. Got one of those. Probably going to get another.
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Shaun Dawson said:
For passenger use, the QC 35 is a great choice. You can add in an NFlight mic if they want to be plugged into the intercom and listen to ATC, or they can use it with their phone or tablet or whatever.
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QC45's are on sale for $229 via Prime Day: https://a.co/d/dX1HGia
 
Shaun Dawson said:
Just bought one! I’ll report back once I try it out with the mic.
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PIREP as promised (sorry for the delay):

i bought one of these from BestBuy.com, since they were matching the Prime Day price, and it gave me an option of a local store to deal with. Good thing, too, since it arrived with the switch in the ON position, and the battery was toast. I gave it 24 hours to charge, without result.

I took it to Best Buy and walked out with a replacement unit. Excellent experience.

My NFlight Nomad mic came with two of the 3M fasteners, so I put the second set on the new headphones, and went flying.

The experience was great. The mic worked perfectly, and the headphones worked as well as my QC35s. After several flights, I have a few observations:

1. The battery life on the QC45s is about half that of the 35s. I use them daily for calls and podcasts, and the 35s would last about a week, and the 45s last me a few days. Not a huge deal for me, but it’s not clear that I get any value from this trade. I do prefer the USB-3 connector on the 45s to the micro USB connector in the 35s, since I don’t have to flip it over 6 times before it fits.

2. One time, I had a weird volume issue where I had to turn the volume up from where it was set. I’m not sure how (or even if) it got turned down, but it confused me for a moment. The NFlight support guy told me that this is a common issue and that they recommend the 35s instead of the 45s for primarily that reason.

Other than that, the 45s work basically the same as my older 35s. All things considered, the 35s work better, but I do like the 45s a little bit more, probably because I prefer the white color, which is a stupid reason.

Bottom line is that you can’t really go wrong with either the 35s or the 45s with the NFlight mic, though the 35s are probably a little bit better.

Links for the items I’m talking about:

Bose QC45s:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/bose-q...eadphones-white-smoke/6471288.p?skuId=6471288

NFlight Nomad mic:
https://nflightmic.com/collections/nflightmic-store
 
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